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Printers and PCs power HP's second quarter

Healthy, happy Hurd

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A jovial Mark Hurd today celebrated a second quarter in which HP posted a double-digit rise in revenue.

HP reported revenue of $26bn for the quarter, notching a 13 per cent year-over-year jump. Revenue increased 10 per cent year-over-year in constant currency. PCs, printers and x86 servers all did their part during the quarter with sales and profits elevating in all three areas.

"We had a strong second quarter across the product portfolio," Hurd said, during a conference call with financial analysts.

At other times during the conference call, Hurd broke away from his typically staid manner to kid around with the Wall Street crowd. The CEO told one analyst that he's put in extra study time, preparing for a question around currency issues. Hurd then went on to try his hand at a few one-liner, although we'll spare you the "gags."

The CEO's good cheer seems reasonable enough. HP has almost put its spy scandal away, and the company continues to post consistent results thanks to ongoing cost-cutting measures.

HP did, however, see its net earnings slip 7 per cent to $1.8bn, so the cost-cutting has only gone so far.

PC sales jumped 24 per cent year-over-year to $8.7bn. Notebooks drove the growth with revenue rising 45 per cent, as compared to desktop sales which rose just 9 per cent. HP's total computer shipments increased 30 per cent, and the computer business posted a profit of $417m.

The imaging and printing unit enjoyed a 6 per cent revenue rise to $7.2bn and turned a $1.2bn profit. My how ink pays.

The corporate hardware group saw revenue rise 8 per cent to $4.6bn. HP plugged gains in the x86 and blade servers markets, along with increasing Itanium-based server sales. Overall, the hardware business contributed a $407m profit.